As a parent, you may be focused more on child custody matters than anything else when divorcing. Child custody is divided into two parts: legal and physical custody.
Legal custody is a parent’s right to decide how their child is raised. This can include where a child goes to school or if they will undergo medical procedures for an illness. Physical custody is a parent’s obligation to maintain a child’s daily routine and provide basic necessities, such as food, shelter and clothing.
Typically, parents can discuss their parenting options, but a court may also make a choice for parents. Here are a few parenting arrangements:
Joint custody is an option for parents who are divorced but want to share the responsibility and opportunity of raising their children as they would want. Parents share legal and physical custody under a joint custody arrangement. This typically means that parents will discuss in depth how they can realistically raise their children in two houses. Parents will discuss when they can take custody of their children and what’s important for their children’s growth.
Joint custody doesn’t always work, but parents may still share a limited form of joint custody called parallel parenting. Parallel parenting limits how much parents communicate, which gives them more autonomy to raise their children.
One parent may have full responsibility for their children under sole custody. They’ll take on all legal and physical custody matters and the other parent may be given some limited visitation rights. This can be a lot for some parents, but not impossible. And, it can give children a better environment to be raised in.
If you’re a parent looking to learn about your parenting options after divorce, then it can help to seek out legal guidance.